Carthage - Ancient History Encyclopedia Carthage by Joshua J. Mark published on 28 April 2011 According to legend, Carthage was founded by the Phoenician Queen Elissa (better known as Dido ) sometime around 813 BCE although, actually, it rose following Alexander 's destruction of Tyre in 332 BCE. The city (in modern-day Tunisia, North Africa) was originally known as Kart-hadasht (new city) to distinguish it from the older Phoenician city of Utica nearby. The Greeks called the city Karchedon and the Romans turned this name into Carthago. Originally a small port on the coast, established only as a stop for Phoenician traders to re-supply or repair their ships, Carthage grew to become the most powerful city in the Mediterranean before the rise of Rome . A Great Trade Centre After the fall of the great Phoenician city of Tyre to Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, those Tyrians who were able to escape fled to Carthage with whatever wealth they had.

Since many whom Alexander spared were those rich enough to buy their lives, these refugees landed in the city with considerable means and established Carthage as the new centre of Phoenician trade. The Carthaginians then drove the native Africans from the area, enslaved many of them, and exacted tribute from the rest. From a small town on the coast, the city grew in size and grandeur with enormous estates covering miles of acreage. Not even one hundred years passed before Carthage was the richest city in the Mediterranean. The aristocrats lived in palaces, the less affluent in modest but attractive homes, while tribute and tariffs regularly increased the city’s wealth on top of the lucrative business in trade. The harbour was immense, with 220 docks, gleaming columns which rose around it in a half-circle, and was ornamented with Greek sculpture . The Carthaginian trading ships sailed daily to ports all around the Mediterranean Sea while their navy, supreme in the region, kept them safe and, also, opened new territories for trade and resources through conquest . Advertisement Carthage Against Rome It was this expansion which first brought Carthage into conflict with Rome. When Rome was weaker than Carthage, she posed no threat.

The Carthaginian navy had long been able to enforce the treaty which kept Rome from trading in the western Mediterranean. When Carthage took Sicily , however, Rome responded. Though they had no navy and knew nothing of fighting on the sea, Rome built 330 ships which they equipped with clever ramps and gangways (the corvus) which could be lowered onto an enemy ship and secured; thus turning a sea battle into a land battle. The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) had begun. After an initial struggle with military tactics, Rome won a series of victories and finally defeated Carthage in 241 BCE. Carthage was forced to cede Sicily to Rome and pay a heavy war indemnity. Carthage again went to war with Rome when the general Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum . Following this war, Carthage became embroiled in what is known as The Mercenary War (241-237 BCE) which started when the Carthaginian army of mercenaries demanded the payment Carthage owed them. This war was finally won by Carthage through the efforts of the general Hamilcar Barca .

Carthage suffered greatly from both these conflicts and, when Rome occupied the Carthaginian colonies of Sardinia and Corsica, there was nothing the Carthaginians could do about it. They tried to make the best of their situation by conquering and expanding holdings in Spain but again went to war with Rome when the Carthaginian general Hannibal attacked the city of Saguntum, an ally of Rome. The Second Punic War (218-202 BCE) was fought largely in northern Italy as Hannibal invaded Italy from Spain by marching his forces over the Alps. Hannibal won every engagement against the Romans in Italy. In 216 BCE he won his greatest victory at the Battle of Cannae but, lacking sufficient troops and supplies, could not build on his successes. He was defeated by the Roman general Scipio Africanus at the Battle of Zama, in North Africa, in 202 BCE and Carthage again sued for peace. Remove Ads Advertisement Placed, again, under a heavy war indemnity by Rome, Carthage struggled to pay their debt while also trying to fend off incursions from neighbouring Numidia. Carthage went to war against Numidia and lost.

Having only recently paid off their debt to Rome, they now owed a new war debt to Numidia. Rome was not concerned with what Carthage and Numidia were involved with but did not care for the sudden revitalization of the Carthaginian army. Carthage believed that their treaty with Rome was ended when their war debt was paid; Rome disagreed. The Romans felt that Carthage was still obliged to bend to Roman will; so much so that the Roman Senator Cato the Elder ended all of his speeches, no matter what the subject, with the phrase, “Further, I think that Carthage should be destroyed.” In 149 BCE, Rome suggested just that course of action. The Destruction of Carthage A Roman embassy to Carthage made demands to the senate which included the stipulation that Carthage be dismantled and then re-built further inland. The Carthaginians, understandably, refused to do so and the Third Punic War (149-146 BCE) began. The Roman general Scipio Aemilianus besieged Carthage for three years until it fell.

After sacking the city, the Romans burned it to the ground, leaving not one stone on top of another. A modern myth has grown up that the Romans forces then sowed the ruins with salt but this story has no basis in fact. It is said that Scipio Aemilianus wept when he ordered the destruction of the city and behaved virtuously toward the survivors. Utica now became the capital of Rome’s African provinces and Carthage lay in ruin until 122 BCE when Gaius Sepronius Gracchus, the Roman tribune , founded a small colony there. Memory of the Punic wars still being too fresh, however, the colony failed. Julius Caesar proposed and planned the re-building of Carthage and, five years after his death, Carthage rose again. Power now shifted from Utica back to Carthage and it remained an important Roman colony until the fall of the empire .

Carthage: Ancient Phoenician City-State Carthage: Ancient Phoenician City-State By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | October 24, 2012 12:41pm ET MORE Founded by a seafaring people known as the Phoenicians, the ancient city of Carthage, located in modern-day Tunis in Tunisia, was a major center of trade and influence in the western Mediterranean. The city fought a series of wars against Rome that would ultimately lead to its destruction. The Phoenicians were originally based in a series of city-states that extended from southeast Turkey to modern-day Israel. They were great seafarers with a taste for exploration. Accounts survive of its navigators reaching places as far afield as Northern Europe and West Africa. They founded settlements throughout the Mediterranean during the first millennium B.C. Ruins at Carthage in Tunisia. Credit: Asta Plechaviciute shutterstock Carthage, whose Phoenician name was Qart Hadasht (new city), was one of those new settlements. It sat astride trade routes going east to west, across the Mediterranean, and north to south, between Europe and Africa.

The people spoke Punic, a form of the Phoenician language. The two main deities at Carthage were Baal Hammon and his consort, Tanit. Richard Miles writes in his book Carthage Must Be Destroyed (Penguin Group, 2010) that the word Baal means “Lord” or “Master,” and Hammon may come from a Phoenician word meaning “hot” or “burning being.” Miles notes that Baal Hammon is often depicted with a crescent moon, while Tanit, his consort, is shown with outstretched arms. The city The earliest archaeological evidence of occupation at Carthage dates to about 760 B.C. The settlement quickly grew to encompass a 25-30 hectare (61-74 acres) residential area surrounded by a necropolis (graveyard), notes Roald Docter, of Ghent University. Within a century the settlement would have city walls, harbor installations and a “Tophet,” a controversial installation in the southeast of the city that may have been used for child sacrifice (it could simply have been a special burial ground).

A great marketplace (which the Greeks called an “agora”) also developed and, in later centuries, was located by the sea, writes University of Sydney professor Dexter Hoyos in his book, The Carthaginians (Routledge, 2010). “Besides its role as a market, it would be the obvious place for magistrates to assemble the citizens for elections and lawmaking,” he writes. By 500 B.C., the city’s system of government, as suggested by the large marketplace, was a republic of sorts. Hoyos notes that the Carthaginians had two elected sufetes (the Greeks called them kings) that served along with a senate, citizen assembly and pentarchies (five-person commissions). There was also an enigmatic body called the “court of 104” that occasionally crucified defeated Carthaginian generals. As with other ancient (and to some degree modern) republics, wealthy individuals from powerful families had the advantage in getting into office. Nevertheless, the combination of trade opportunities and republican structure appears to have had some success at Carthage.

In the second century B.C., just before it was destroyed by Rome, the city boasted a population estimated at more than half a million people. As the city grew, so did its external influence, with evidence of involvement in places such as Sardinia, Spain and Sicily, entanglements that would ultimately lead to conflict with Rome. Legendary foundation It wasn’t unusual for large cities in the ancient world to have elaborate foundation myths, and Greek and Roman writers had a tale for Carthage, one set more than 2,800 years ago. According to legend, Carthage was founded by Elissa (sometimes referred to as Dido), a queen of the Phoenician city of Tyre, located in modern-day Lebanon. When her father died she and her brother Pygmalion both ascended the throne. This did not work out well, with Pygmalion eventually ordering the execution of Elissa’s husband, the priest Acherbas. Elissa, along with a small group of settlers, would leave the city, sailing nearly 1,400 miles (2,300 km) west.

The local king, a man named Iarbas, said they could build as large a settlement as could be encompassed by an ox-hide at Carthage (the settlers ended up slicing up the ox-hide really thin). Iarbas would eventually demand that Elissa marry him to which she responded by killing herself with a sword atop a funeral pyre. Archaeologists have yet to find remains of Carthage datable to the ninth century B.C., and scholars tend to regard this story as being largely mythical. The tale, moreover, comes largely from Greek and Roman sources, and it’s debatable whether Carthaginians actually believed in it themselves. Location of Carthage and Carthaginian sphere of influence prior to the First Punic War (264 B.C.) Credit: Public domain Punic Wars Rome and Carthage would fight a total of three "Punic Wars," which ultimately led to the latter’s destruction and re-founding. The two cities were not always hostile.

Before the First Punic War started in 264 B.C., they had a long history of trade, and at one point the two powers actually allied together against Pyrrhus, a king based in Epirus, which is in modern-day Albania. This is known today as the Pyrrhic War. Historians still debate the causes of the Punic Wars but the spark that lit it off happened in Sicily. Carthage had long controlled territory on the western part of the island, fighting off the Greek city of Syracuse. In 265 B.C., the Mamertines, a group of former mercenaries based in Messina, Sicily, appealed to both Carthage and Rome for help against Syracuse. They ended up getting both requests answered. Richard Miles writes that Carthage sent a small force to Messina, which was then ejected by a larger Roman force. The situation quickly escalated into open war between the two great powers. In the beginning, Carthage had naval supremacy, giving them the edge. However, the Romans built up a fleet quickly, developing a bridge-like device called a “corvus,” which made it easier for their embarked troops to storm Carthaginian ships .

The First Punic War would go on for more than 20 years and end in Carthage accepting a humiliating peace treaty that ceded Sicily along with much of their Mediterranean holdings to Rome. The Second Punic War would last from 218 to 201 B.C. and would see the Carthaginian general Hannibal, based in Spain, attack Italy directly by going through the Alps. At first his attack proved successful, taking a great deal of territory and inflicting a Roman defeat at the Battle of Cannae, in southern Italy in 216 B.C. Hannibal was, however, was unable to take Rome itself. Over the next decade, a series of Roman counterattacks in Italy, Spain and Sicily turned the tide of war against Carthage and in 204 B.C., a Roman force led by Publius Cornelius Scipio landed in Africa, defeating Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. The peace imposed on Carthage left it bereft of land and money. The Third Punic War, from 149 to 146 B.C., consisted mainly of a prolonged siege of Carthage, which ended with the city being burned.

A modern-day myth has the Romans “salting the earth” to prevent the fields of Carthage being tilled again; however, there is no ancient evidence for this. A Roman mosaic from ancient Carthage. Credit: Solodov Alexey shutterstock Roman Carthage Carthage would not be gone for long. A century later, Julius Caesar founded a new Roman city on the site and by the second century A.D., it was the largest North African city west of Egypt. Researcher Aïcha Ben Abed writes that among its features were giant “Antonine baths,” that were “the largest public baths in the Roman Empire” (from Tunisian Mosaics, 2006, Getty Publications), a sign of the city’s success. The importance of Carthage would not diminish as time went on and today Tunis, a modern-day capital of more than 2 million people, surrounds the ancient ruins. Carthage, Tunisia - Travel Photos by Galen R Frysinger, Sheboygan, Wisconsin ancient city of Carthage Carthage (ancient city) (Latin Carthago) great city of antiquity, on the northern coast of Africa, near modern Tunis, Tunisia.

Dido was the legendary founder and queen of Carthage; the city was probably established as a trading post toward the end of the 9th century BC by Phoenicians. Phoenician grave site The earliest artifacts unearthed by archaeologists at the site date from 800 BC. The city was known to its Punic or Phoenician inhabitants as the "new city," probably to distinguish it from Utica, the "old city." Built on a peninsula jutting into the Gulf of Tunis, Carthage had two splendid harbors, connected by a canal. Above the harbors on a hill was the Byrsa, a walled fortress. entrance to archeological site By the subjugation of the Libyan tribes and by the annexation of older Phoenician colonies, Carthage in the 6th century BC controlled the entire North African coast from the Atlantic Ocean to the western border of Egypt, as well as Sardinia, Malta, the Balearic Islands, and part of Sicily. A Carthaginian admiral, Hanno, made a voyage along the Atlantic coast of North Africa.

marker The maritime power of the Carthaginians enabled them to extend their settlements and conquests, forming a scattered empire devoted to commerce. Among the commercial enterprises were the mining of silver and lead; the manufacture of beds and bedding; a lumber industry in the Atlas Mountains; the production of simple, cheap pottery, jewelry, and glassware for trade; and the export of wild animals from African jungles, of fruits and nuts, and of ivory and gold. what the Roman baths were Carthage produced little art. Most of the work of the Carthaginians was imitative of Egyptian, Greek, and Phoenician originals. In literature only a few technical works appeared. Thus, little is known of the everyday life of Carthage, its government, or its language. Religion in Carthage involved human sacrifice to the principal gods, Baal and Tanit, the equivalent of the Phoenician goddess Astarte. The Greek gods Demeter and Persephone and the Roman goddess Juno were adapted to later religious patterns of the Carthaginians. layout of the baths Carthage engaged in war almost continually with Greece and with Rome for 150 years.

Wars with Greece, beginning in 409 BC, concerned the control of Sicily, which lay only about 160 km (about 100 mi) from Carthage and formed a natural bridge between North Africa and Italy. Carthage first encountered defeat in Sicily in 480 BC, when the Carthaginian general Hamilcar (flourished 5th century BC) commanded a force that hoped to expand Carthaginian influence throughout Sicily, but was defeated by Gelon, the tyrant (ruler) of Syracuse. the remains Further Carthaginian attempts to conquer Sicily were thwarted by armies under the command of the Syracusan tyrants Dionysius the Younger, Dionysius the Elder, Agathocles, and Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. After their final defeat in 276 BC, the Carthaginians continued to hold territory in Sicily; 12 years later the first of the Punic Wars against Rome began. the lower level The First Punic War (264-241 BC) brought to the fore the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca.

Defeated in Sicily, Hamilcar invaded Spain. His conquests in southern Spain were completed by his son-in-law Hasdrubal and by his son Hannibal. Carthage ceded its holdings in Sicily to Rome after the final Roman victory at the Aegates Islands. During the Second Punic War (218-201 BC), Hannibal marched eastward along the northern shore of the Mediterranean from Spain and finally crossed the Alps into Italy. Hannibal's final defeat, however, resulted in the loss of Spain and various island possessions of Carthage. statue of a Roman God In the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), the Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus destroyed the city of Carthage. In a final gesture of contempt, the Romans spread salt over the ruins. The victors thus fulfilled the wish of the Roman statesman Cato the Elder. remains of the baths lower level Occupancy of the site was forbidden for 25 years. In 122 BC a new city, Colonia Junonia, was founded; it lasted only 30 years.

In 46 BC Julius Caesar visited the site and proclaimed that a city should be built there. His wishes were fulfilled by the Roman emperor Augustus, in 29 BC, when a city called Colonia Julia Carthago was founded. This new city flourished until, according to some historians, it was second only to Rome in prosperity and administrative importance. broken granite column Roman Carthage also became a center of Christianity, being the seat of a bishop from late in the 2nd century. St. Cyprian was bishop there in 248; Tertullian, a Christian ecclesiastical writer, lived and worked in Carthage in the 3rd century; and St. Augustine was bishop of nearby Hippo in the early 5th century. underground heating chambers Carthage was fortified against barbarian attack in 425. In 439 the Vandal king Gaiseric subjugated the city. It remained the Vandal capital until 533, when the Byzantine general Belisarius captured the city, renaming it Colonia Justiniana Carthago in honor of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.

Between 697 and 705 the city was captured by the Arabs. bird in a cage (Fragment from a Roman mosaic) In 698 it was again destroyed. A great deal of archaeological activity was carried on at the site, particularly in the late 19th century, uncovering early Punic artifacts and Roman, Byzantine, and Vandal buildings. Today Carthage is a wealthy suburb of Tunis. Text from Microsoft Encarta The Cemetery site covers 27 acres of the plateau lying between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Tunis, both of which are a mile or so distant. It is located near the site of the ancient Carthaginian city destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC and lies over part of the site of Roman Carthage. After World War 11 a survey made jointly by representatives of the Secretary of War and the American Battle Monuments Commission revealed that all of the sites of the temporary cemeteries established in North Africa during the war had major disadvantages. The present site was established ï¿½in 1948. It lies in the sector of the British First Army which liberated the Tunis area in May 1943..

Construction of the cemetery and memorial was completed in 1960. Here rest 2,841 of our Military Dead, representing 39 per cent of the burials which were originally made in North Africa and Iran. A high proportion of these gave their lives in the landings in, and occupation of Morocco and Algeria and in subsequent fighting which culminated in the liberation of Tunisia. Others died as a result of accident or sickness in these and other parts of North Africa, or while serving in the Persian Gulf Command in Iran.

Archaeological site of Carthage (Tunisia) | African World Heritage Sites Website Category: Frontiers of the Roman Empire Â Â Area: unknownÂ Criteria: (ii)Â interchange of values (iii)Â cultural tradition(vi)Â association with belief system Location and Values:Â Carthage is located on a hilly promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, an ideal strategic location in north-east Tunisia, about 15 km east of Tunis.Â It was founded in 814 BC by the seafaring Phoenicians, from their base in Tyre (across the sea in present-day Lebanon), and became a highly prosperous Phoenician port city.Â The Phoenicians ruled the seas from their strategic port at Carthage for almost 800 years but â after many epic battles â the city was taken by the Roman emperor Julius Caeser in 44 BC and levelled.Â By 29 BC it became a Roman provincial capital and within 200 years had grown to become the third largest imperial city after Rome and Alexandria.Â After the fall of the Roman Empire, Carthage became the capital of the Vandals and Byzantines, before slipping

 into obscurity after the Arab conquest.

The Archaeological Site of Carthage, as it exists today, comprises a number of different locations scattered amongst the wealthy residential streets of the modern town. Overall, different components of the site are located over an area of about 2 km x 2.5 km, so exploration of the various points of interest involves a lot of walking, or use of transport.Â Â The highlights include the museum and excavation on Byrsa Hill, the Punic ports, the Punic Sanctuary of Tophet, the Roman amphitheatre, and the Antonine Baths.

Details of Slideshow: The slideshow covers three areas of the archaeological site starting at the excellent museum, where the exhibits include some stunning Roman statuary, mosaics and an artistâs impression of the Punic town and port.Â From the museum, the photo-tour proceeds to the (Roman) Antonine Baths, which were built in the middle of the 2nd century and were the third largest in the Roman Empire (they were destroyed by the Vandals in 439 AD).Â Â A couple of kilometres from the Baths is the haunting (Punic) Sanctuary of Tophet, an enclosure of stone stelae marking the graves of Carthaginian children who were sacrificed to the deities Baal Hammon and Tanit.Â The final few photographs are taken at the excavation site on Byrsa Hill.Â Slideshow of the Archaeological Site Of Carthage: Google Earth View:Â To view satellite imagery of this site on Google Earth, click here .Â This opens a new window, so when you are finished, just close the Google Earth page and you will be straight back here to continue browsing other world heritage sites around Africa.

You can learn an enormous amount from this kind of âbirdâs eye viewâ, so take a few minutes to explore the surroundings by panning in and out, and looking to left and right at high resolution.Â That way, youâll get a strong sense of âcontextâ, understanding how this place is situated within the wider contemporary landscape. Links to other places featuring the frontiers of the Roman Empire:Â Djemila Â IÂ TimgadÂ IÂ Tipaza Â IÂ Cyrene Â IÂ Leptis Magna Â IÂ Sabratha Â IÂ El Jem Â IÂ Dougga Â IÂ Volubilis Â Other Links:Â Â Â Â Official UNESCO Site Details Carthage - Ancient Roman towns in today's Tunisia (detail of the theatre at Thugga ) You may wish to see a page on the Punic memories of Carthage first.

But now nothing remains of the great city save a few cisterns and some shapeless masses of masonry ; all that is valuable has been carried off either for the construction of the modern city of Tunis or to enrich the public buildings and museums of Europe ; and now, indeed, there can be no doubt that in very truth: "Deleta est Carthago" (Carthage is destroyed). (1895 Murray's Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunisia). Roman columns and capitals in the Museum of Carthage on the site of the ancient acropolis In 692 AD the Arabs conquered Carthage; because they feared that the Byzantines, who had a powerful fleet, could reconquer it and turn it into the base for a large expedition, they preferred to set the capital of Ifriqiya, as they called the Roman province of Africa, at Kairouan , which they had founded at a considerable distance from the coast in 670. The columns of the churches and former temples of Carthage were used to build the Great Mosque of Tunis and Carthage was abandoned, the remaining buildings being used as quarries.

Archaeological excavations started in 1857, but they were mainly limited to the hill where the acropolis stood. In the meantime Carthage became an elegant neighbourhood of Tunis. Following a UNESCO initiative in 1973, the whole area of the ancient town was mapped and declared of archaeological interest, but only a few parcels of land were not already part of luxurious villas or expensive apartment blocks. As a consequence the ticket allowing entrance to ancient Carthage lists ten different sites surrounded by the modern town. The ruins of the Roman buildings on the acropolis were in part sacrificed to the unearthing of a quarter of the Punic town. (left) Theatre; (right) a " Cipollino" column and a white marble capital The Roman theatre was built on the slope of a hill to the north of the acropolis in the early IInd century AD. It was entirely replaced by a modern one (only a very small section was rebuilt with the original stones) which houses the International Festival of Carthage. The statues found on the site, including one of Apollo Citharede (shown in the next page ), were taken to the Museum of Bardo.

The only interesting thing to see is a selection of ancient columns of different colours from the four corners of the Empire which are evidence of the wealth of the city. Wild flowers hiding the audience seating portion of the odeum (or odeon) Tunisian authorities go from one extreme to the other when dealing with the ancient monuments of their country: they rebuilt the theatre, but they seem not to care about maintaining the odeum which stands behind it. It was built at the beginning of the IIIrd century to house musical and poetry contests. In origin odeums were rather small roofed buildings, but during the Roman Empire some very large odeums were built, such as that of Herodes Atticus at Athens. (left) A pillar of "Villa of the Aviary"; (right) the terrace and a statue found nearby. In the background the Tunisian flags indicate the Presidential villa, where large ancient cisterns are located We do not know the name of the owner of a large villa near the Odeon with a commanding view over the sea. He must have been a very wealthy man.

In the IInd and IIIrd century AD, Carthage was the second largest city of the western part of the Roman Empire and its population probably reached 500,000 inhabitants. The real estate value of the land where the villa was built must have been astronomical. Villa of the Aviary - peristilium (courtyard) The current aspect of the villa is the result of excavations carried out in the 1960s at the end of which columns and other materials found in nearby villas were utilized to complete the reconstruction of the villa. Similar to what can be observed at the theatre, the columns come from different countries. Villa of the Aviary: details of the mosaic in the peristilium The villa was named after the large mosaic of its peristilium which depicts many birds with other small animals, flowers and fruits. It was a common subject for mosaics, in particular for those outdoors, but it could also indicate that it was made during the Late Empire when the depiction of gods and mythical episodes was no longer in fashion.

Villa of the Aviary: terrace with a mixed mosaic/marble floor A terrace near the peristilium houses a complex decoration which in part is made of small mosaics portraying animals and horsemen and in part is geometric with pieces of marble replacing the mosaics. The latter is evidence of spolia, i.e. the re-use of material of earlier buildings, which suggests the decoration was made or modified in the Late Empire. Antonine Baths Emperor Hadrian visited the province of Africa twice; during his second visit he promoted the construction of a long aqueduct from Ziqua to Carthage. When eventually the aqueduct and the large baths it supplied were completed the latter were named after Antoninus Pius , Hadrian's successor. The complex of buildings was very imposing and ipsa ruina docet (the ruins speak for themselves), a saying usually applied to Rome, fits these baths too. A column has been re-erected above the supporting structures in order to convey the idea of the height of the halls. The baths were built on the sea front and their view from the ships heading towards the harbour must have been impressive. The Romans enjoyed living by the sea.

Pliny the Elder regarded sea bathing as a healthy practice although he warned about its exciting effects (you may wish to see the baths by the sea of Sabratha , another Roman town in Africa). Antonine Baths: walls supporting the main circular hall While we cannot admire the baths in their original splendour, we can appreciate the construction technique of the underground system of passages which allowed servants to move about the baths without disturbing the customers. Antonine Baths: (left) celebratory inscription making reference to Emperor Marcus Aurelius and a small one added in the late IVth century; (right) reconstructed site of one of the latrines While today's modern society accepts some aspects of the Roman way of life which were despised for centuries, that of regarding latrines as a convenient place for social meetings is still not acceptable. The latrines of the Antonine Baths were very large and they were decorated with precious marbles as those built at approximately the same time at Leptis Magna , another Roman town in Africa. Mosaic at the house of the "schola" The "Archaeological Park of the Antonine Baths" includes the ruins of a few buildings behind the baths. They are aligned along the customary grid of Roman towns.

They generally belong to a later period than the Baths. A complex building which retains an elegant mosaic with children dancing in a background of rose petals, is believed to have been the meeting place of a "schola", a unit of Imperial guards created by Emperor Diocletian . Apparently the subject of the mosaic does not seem fit for such a meeting place, but the dropping of rose petals might have been part of the complex ceremonial introduced by Emperor Diocletian for his public appearances. Christian basilica of Douimes Carthage was home to a thriving Christian community since the IInd century AD, but this large basilica built with spolia is dated Vth or VIth century. It had a separate baptistery surrounded by columns. At the entrance to the "Archaeological Park of the Antonine Baths", a panel with a plan of the site suggests two itineraries: "Short Circuit" and "Global Circuit". The former includes just a visit to the Baths, the latter a visit to the entire archaeological area, which is not that large when compared to others.

From a visit made in April 2012 it appeared that the two itineraries corresponded to different levels of maintenance: the Baths were well cared for, whereas all the other monuments were left in a state of total abandonment. (left) Punic necropolis of Douimes; (right) mosaic near the "schola" The image used as background for this page shows a gladiator on a pottery lamp (Palaeo-Christian Museum of Carthage). Move to: Middle East - Tunisia - Carthage An Historical Overview Beneath the layers of time various manifestations of Carthage can be found. The first Carthage, founded by the Phoenician princess Elyssa-Dido, brought Africa to the forefront of history. The Punic Carthage of Hannon was queen of the seas and Hannibal's Carthage ruled the world during its shining hour of glory before it, too, vanished. Augustus built Roman Carthage as the capital of Proconsular African and the Imperial Carthage which followed was a centre for the arts and learning. The Christian city of St Augustine was as famed for religion as for its other interests.

For a century the city was held by the Vandals and then became Byzantine under Belisarius. Carthage was finally conquered by the Arabs who then abandoned it in favour of Tunis. However, it remained a watchful outpost of the new capital city. Throughout the centuries this extinct city has been inexorably pillaged as a source of building materials for Tunis and other Mediterranean towns. It has gradually been transformed into an agricultural centre famed for the quality of its produce. The installation of the French Protectorate over the Tunisian Regency enabled the Catholic Church to restore the splendid bisphoric of Saint Cyprien. The massive Basilica rising from the summit of Mount Bysra, known as the hill of Saint Louis, is evidence of this era which has disappeared since the country's independent status. Aware of the importance of this legacy, modern Tunisia has resisted the temptation to watch Carthage disappear forever beneath a housing estate. Not all of the site has been built on, and a large archaeological zone is being set aside and protected as a national park. The Carthage which has endured throughout history has always been sited on a peninsula which advances from the African continent into the Mediterranean basin.

Each city was located fronting the shoreline, then expanded towards the hills in the hinterland. They are united, complete and superimposed on each other, of the ancient Carthage and the modern city echoing with the splendors and tribulations of its glorious 3000-year history. The Wide-Angle View One need only climb to the summit of Mount Byrsa to have an ideal point for observation and for conjuring up the drama of such a long history. From this point the visitor is able to contemplate a vast panorama and on foot can explore the remains of these civilizations, including a Punic quarter beneath the remain of a Roman forum, a Christian basilica and, in the premises of a former seminary, the museum where archaeological relics unearthed from excavations in the ruins a century ago are preserved and exhibited. First of all, let's look at the horizon from the panoramic viewing point on the terrace. To the south-east in the distance a high range of mountains can be seen, against the horizon, with Tunis on one of the slopes. The suburbs of Tunis stretch as far as la Behira, an enormous salt lake which laps the shores of the Carthaginian peninsula.

Beyond it lies the la Soukra plain, an area of gardens and greenery close to the airport. On the other side of la Behira, to the left, on a long, narrow strip of land is the La Goulette development, the foremost port in Tunisia. The Sidi Bou Said promontory dominates the entrance to the port, while the port of La Goulette itself is situated at the end with, in the background, the Boukornine mountain. The history of Tunisia has been made along these shores for three thousand years - Phoenicians, Punics, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs and Muslims, Crusaders, Spaniards, Turks and French like so many waves breaking on the shore throughout the never-ending cycle of the years. The Carthage Area From the summit of Mount Byrsa, you can look along the peninsula horizon to the La Goulette conurbation; Le Kram is followed by the Salammbo district, where the two ancient harbours lie opposite each other, surrounded by trees and buildings. Further to the right is the old village of Douar Chott, built around simple ancient mosque.

Further to the right, an enormous archaeological site dotted with monuments including the circus and amphitheatre can be seen. To the left, from the eastern slope of the hill as far as the shore is the residential district of Dermech. At the center of this suburb composed of gardens and villas some plots of land have been left undeveloped, and recent excavations have revealed several groups of remains such as those of a basilica and its precincts at the foot of the hill, and a Punic quarter at the edge of the sea. Further north, along the coast, are the remains of the Antonine thermal baths, which were among the most imposing in the whole Roman Empire. A large granite column which has been re-erected gives an idea of the height of the whole structure. Several centuries of neglect have not succeeded in lessening the impact of its former splendour. From the baths, the coastline rises and becomes steeper, culminating in the majestic Cap Carthage - Sidi Bou Said. The presidential palace is now located on the southern slope of Borj Jedid hill, which overlooks the thermal baths. At the top of the hill are the large water tanks which fed the baths.

Further on, dominating the red ravine at Amilcar is the Basilica of Saint Cyprien. Halfway down this ravine can be found other large reservoirs which dammed up a spring at Dar Samiet, whilst the white village of Sidi Bou Said is sited high on the promontory. Facing Byrsa's twin hill of mount Junon to the west is the Odeon plateau. The theatre covers the southern slope and the Odeon crowns the summit. An entire settlement of Roman villas, some partly excavated, covers this area. The most notable of these villas, called the 'villa de la Voliï؟½re', is well worth a visit for the manner in which the buildings are positioned around the courtyard colonnade, and the terrace which has a marvellous view out over the Gulf and peninsula. Below the plateau to the north-west, in the fold of a valley surrounded by fields, are the traces of the largest Christian Basilica Majorum are found at the summit of a small hill. Finally the massive Maalga tanks are located on a small rise further to the left, where visitors travelling from Tunis by the main road reach the site.

The tanks were fed by the Zaghouan aqueduct, some 70 km away as the crow flies. From this point the Marsa plain stretches into the distance. The famous novel Slalmmbo by Gustave Flaubert starts with the following description:"It was at Megara, a suburb of Carthage, in the Amilcar gardens..." Guide to main places of Interest and Monuments in Cartage Mount Byrsa and the Museum Mount Byrsa was the Acropolis of Punic

Question: Which modern capital is built on the site of ancient Carthage?
Answer: TUNIS